Cal offense struggles as Bears fall to Clemson in Berkeley

Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele prepares to pass against Clemson on Friday night in Berkeley. He finished 16-for-29 for 119 yards with two interceptions. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) It was slow. It was grimy. And it was ugly. And though the Cal defense played up to the spotlight of the Friday night lights, and the hype of Clemson rolling into Berkeley for the first time in history, the other units left them on an island, as Dabo Swinney's Tigers posted a 24-10 victory over the Bears at Memorial Stadium.

>The Cal defense rattled Clemson early, with cornerback Isaiah Crosby intercepting an errant throw by freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds, who was under pressure from the pass rush. Not long after, Bears linebacker Kamar Mothudi registered a scoop-and-score touchdown after safety chased down Reynolds, who fumbled on the way down to the turf, to give Cal a 7-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

>But as drive after drive stalled, with quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Cal (2-2, 1-1 ACC) struggling to muster up any sort of rhythm on offense, Clemson started to wear down the Bears' defense.

>The Tigers (3-1, 2-0) organized a 17-play, 66-yard touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead in the second quarter, with Cal's special teams unit extending the possession with an offsides penalty on what would have been a Clemson punt on a 4th-and-4 from Cal's 37-yard line.

>And while the Bears mustered an 11-play, 71-yard drive on their first possession of the second half, Cal was forced to settle for a field goal after the offense stalled in the red zone. The following possession, after the Bears called a dubious swing pass screen behind the line of scrimmage to tight end Mason Mini on 3rd-and-10 that went nowhere, Cal's special teams made another mistake, this time a crucial one.

>The Tigers' Bryant Wesco Jr. fielded a low and short punt from Angus Davies, got to the edge with ease and found the end zone for a 65-yard  touchdown, giving Clemson a 17-10 lead with 2:31 left in the third quarter.

>Clemson 24, Cal 10

Clemson01077-24Cal7030-10First QuarterCAL_Mothudi 35 fumble return (Meyer kick), 5:15.

Second QuarterCLEM_FG Hauser 30, 14:56.

class="text-ind">CLEM_Davidson 1 run (Hauser kick), 5:39.

Third QuarterCAL_FG Meyer 30, 9:23.

class="text-ind">CLEM_Wesco 65 punt return (Hauser kick), 3:57.

Fourth QuarterCLEM_Davidson 75 run (Hauser kick), 2:59.

class="text-divider">___

CLEMCALFirst downs2313Total Net Yards363231Rushes-yards49-25527-86Passing108145Punt Returns2-720-0Kickoff Returns3-671-12Interceptions Ret.2-01-0Comp-Att-Int13-21-117-30-2Sacked-Yards Lost2-122-12Punts3-33.6674-47.5Fumbles-Lost1-10-0Penalties-Yards6-638-61Time of Possession34:0325:57___

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING_Clemson, Davidson 22-159, Green 7-31, Reynolds 11-28, T.Brown 1-27, Chr.Johnson 5-16, Preston 1-(minus 2), (Team) 2-(minus 4). Cal, Mohammed 13-51, Emory 7-31, Ingrassia 2-7, Mini 2-4, Sagapolutele 3-(minus 7).

class="text-ind">PASSING_Clemson, Reynolds 13-21-1-108. Cal, Sagapolutele 16-29-2-119, Mini 1-1-0-26.

class="text-ind">RECEIVING_Clemson, T.Brown 3-29, Moore 3-24, Wesco 3-22, Patt-Henry 1-22, Bentancur 1-7, Davidson 1-2, Chr.Johnson 1-2. Cal, Hendricks 4-37, Strong 3-44, Mohammed 3-30, Mini 3-14, Emory 2-11, Thomas 1-7, King 1-2.

class="text-ind">MISSED FIELD GOALS_Clemson, Hauser 48. Cal, Meyer 50.

>Still, the Bears defense forced a stop on 3rd-and-4 that resulted in the Tigers missing a 48-yard field-goal attempt with 9:14 left to keep the game within one score. But the Cal offense just couldn't get out of its own way. A holding penalty brought back what would have been a huge gain from Chase Hendricks, and Sagapolutele was sacked on a blitz up the middle to derail the Bears' best opportunity to tie the game.

>The Tigers then landed the knockout blow as running back Gideon Davidson broke free for a 75-yard house call with 2:58 remaining.

>In garbage time, cornerback Elliot Washington II picked off a Sagapolutele pass to end the Bears offense's disastrous night. The sophomore quarterback finished 16-for-29 for 119 yards and two interceptions.

>The Tigers outsnapped the Bears 70 plays to 57 and won the time-of-possession battle 34:07 to 25:53. Cal falls to 2-2 on the season, marking their first loss of ACC conference play.

SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Cal offense struggles as Bears fall to Clemson in Berkeley.